Why quality assurance is essential for a development company?

As an agency with core business in iOS development or Android development and website development, we are used to the word; bug. It is our least favorite word, but it also represents a chance for constant growth and upgrades. That’s why we put lots of attention to our Quality assurance analysts as well as quality assurance processes.  

Table of contents

• Who are QAA’s
• How would you define quality assurance as a QAA?
• What qualities should a Quality assurance analyst have?
• How exactly do you find a bug?
• Why is Quality assurance so important?
• Are there any possible negative impacts of not implementing quality assurance?
• What are the benefits of quality assurance?
• Do you have some advice for companies that don’t have quality assurance?
• Quality assurance tips&tricks for a development company!
• Quality assurance is a safety net for developers!

Who are QAA’s

They are the persons that focus on finding bugs, faults, or shortcomings based on website or application behavior, design and user expectations.

Quality assurance analyst’s job is to carefully review each part of the website or application and report a bug, shortcomings or faults. So, Quality assurance analysts are the people ensuring quality assurance. 

What exactly is quality assurance?

Our Quality assurance analyst (QAA), Andrea Delaš, is here to explain what exactly is quality assurance, why is it important and why you should be implementing it in your everyday work process.  

How would you define quality assurance as a QAA?

Simply put, quality assurance is a process in which we question the quality of a certain product. As it is a process, it is important to stress the fact, that quality assurance should be done through the whole process of developing a product, not just at the end.

The person responsible for conducting quality assurance in the company can also predict future bugs or faults in the developing process. Consequently, it is better to predict and stop future mistakes than spending additional time on fixing them.

Also, very often by removing one mistake, another one pops out. Thus, the quality assurance process should start and end with the beginning and end of the product development process.

What qualities should a Quality assurance analyst have?

Desirable qualities of a quality assurance analyst are certainly curiosity and creativity. In the IT world, QAA is the first person to use the application or website. Therefore, he or she should come up with all the ways to test the functionality of an app or website.

Even though every app or website has its natural flow, you need to understand that when the site or app goes live, it will be used by thousands of different users. Every person is an individual that has it own way of thinking. Thus, QAA has to be a person able to put herself/himself in other people’s shoes. 

How exactly do you find a bug?

When the project is still at the beginning I would first study all of the documentation and design, in great detail, so I can make my preparation for testing. Based on the specification written in collected documentation and design, I would write down all of the parts of an app/website, types, and roles of users, what are the processes of logging into the system, how does the shopping process goes, etc. In this way, you are completely familiar with the product you are testing and in control of the QA process.

When a certain part or module is ready for testing, the creative part starts. I always let myself to be guided with curiosity when trying to put myself in different shoes. The goal is to come up with more situations in which a user can find himself in. 

The ideal situation is the one where there are no bugs. But that is almost impossible. I must say, once I find a bug, the sense of pride kicks in, because I found it and not the user. The found bug is then reported back to developers who work on the solutions.

It is important to give lots of information about the bug, how you found it and how a user might run into trouble. In this way, the developers will have a broader picture and will be able to remove it more efficiently. 

A quick tip: if you are working on long term projects, it is useful to keep a detailed report about tested parts or modules. In this way, you will always be up to speed and in control.

Why is Quality assurance so important?

QA is really important in all areas and activities. For instance, we can take steps one person takes while shopping for a new car:

• Looking online
• Checking reviews 
• Checking with friends and acquaintances
• Checking in-store
• Buy the car

So essentially, the person goes through the process of preparation, analyzing, research and eventually purchase. Now picture if you just went in-store and bought a car.

Would you be mad if the car didn’t match your wishes or needs?

The same rules apply in the business world. If you are building an app or website, you want to test it and make sure it is the best possible solution for your company. Quality assurance does exactly that. It makes sure you are buying the best possible car! 

Are there any possible negative impacts of not implementing quality assurance?

Of course, there are. The first one is always customer dissatisfaction.

If the customer can’t use app/website in a natural way it gets irritated or even angry.

This can lead to negative reviews, dissatisfaction with product or brand, decreasing in the purchase, website abandonment, creation of a negative brand image as well as, negative word of mouth etc.

P.S. Here is a blog post on how to avoid bad reviews, low ratings and uninstalls of your app

What are the benefits of quality assurance?

Implementation of quality assurance in your projects can benefit the company in many ways.

It will allow you to:

• Reduce the number of bugs
• Identify faults and problems early on
• Ensure better customer experience
• A lower number of bad reviews, comments and website/app abandonment 
• Gain positive word of mouth (WOM)
• Reduce the cost of fixing the bugs later on
• Make it easier for developers and designers to patch the problems

Do you have some advice for companies that don’t have quality assurance?

In today’s time, there is much stress put on the quality and strength of a team.

It is wrong to think only developers matter since they are the ones building an application/website. It is true that they will build a product but how did they get the job? The sales team is the one who identifies possible clients and acquires them.

Furthermore, how did clients found out about the company, if not for the marketing strategies implemented by the marketing team?! Also, how is the website or application going to look like if there are no designers? 

The point is to build a strong team with good communication that is going to collaborate on projects. Also, you can stress the importance of screening parts of the projects so every developer and designer is checking for possible bugs or faults.

All of this can’t replace a good QAA but it can help for a time. 

Quality assurance tips&tricks for a development company!

1. Take time to find the right quality assurance analyst! Since this is a very detailed job, you want to make sure you have the right person with desirable qualities. Pay attention to hiring a person that is creative, curious, organized and ready to learn. 
2. Include quality assurance process at the beginning of the project. Very often the bugs can be detected early on and solved easier that at the end of the project. So start your quality assurance process at the same time you are starting the developing process.
3. Take time on the testing part! This is really important and you should take time when testing the product. Very often companies rush to launch the product and stick to the deadline but this will only result in more faults. Remember, it is better to check twice than lose customers/users or suffer losses. 
4. Bugs are a good thing! We all make mistakes, especially in the developing world. So be happy if you find a bug,  because the user won’t find it!

Quality assurance is a safety net for developers!

More and more companies invest in their quality assurance process and quality assurance analysts.

Factory is just one of many companies that recognized the importance of QA. We are implementing the Growth driven design process in our everyday management and therefore, quality assurance plays an important role. It can be said that Andrea is the safety net that makes sure everything is perfect.

Also, we like to write about our processes and if you would like to know something more about quality assurance, check out our blog post: Software testing: The most important rules, types, and run steps. 

We hope advice and experience from our quality assurance analyst Andrea, was helpful. If you have any additional questions or tips, contact us!